Hafiz Rifat

Hafiz Rifat (1756-late March 1799) was the Governor of Jaffa under the Ottoman Empire at the time of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Biography
Hafiz Rifat was born in 1756 to a Sunni Arab family, and he was made the Governor of Jaffa under the Ottoman Empire. Rifat became known as a tyrannical despot by the inhabitants of Jaffa, and he was the commander of the garrison of the city's fortress. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte's French army besieged Jaffa, bombarding the city with artillery and opening breaches in the walls. Rifat was killed when the French stormed the city with bayonets, being stabbed to death in the fierce melee fighting. Rifat's death ended his despotism in Jaffa, which became a French base.